The Ignorance Correction Compromise
by redgrunt84
Summary: Sheldon makes a deal to help Penny in return for her assistance with a pressing matter. Slight spoilers for The Work Song Nanocluster. Penny/Sheldon
1. Chapter 1

Spoilers: Slight for The Work Song Nanocluster

Disclaimer: Recognizable Characters from the Big Bang Theory aren't mine, just borrowing them for a little while, I'll put them back, honest!

**Ignorance: (noun)** lack of knowledge or information.

(knock, knock, knock), "Penny"

(knock, knock, knock), "Penny"

(knock, knock, knock), "Penny"

Sheldon Cooper held his arm protectively over his throat, "It is after 11 am, you can't be mad at me."

Penny glared at him, "Yes I can, I just can't hit you. What do you want? I was up till four prepping my latest orders. I had to get 500 ready for Monday shipping." She sighed, "Today is my only day off."

"I have a matter I would like to discuss with you. It is important or I would not bother you."

She sighed in resignation, "ok, come on in".

Sheldon entered her apartment, following Penny and she moved to sit down on her couch. He followed her to his spot, he noticed approvingly that she had kept it empty and free of debris. He spied several boxes ready for mailing stacked by the door and the residue from Penny Blossom making on her table, while very cluttered with boxes of raw material, to her credit, it looked like she had made an attempt to tidy up before going to bed.

"I wish to discuss your ignorance."

"What?" Penny bolted to her feet, she was ready to go over there and smack him into next week. Something in the back of her mind made her stop. She stared at Sheldon who was sitting absolutely still.

_Oh dear, I have committed a social error, I should make amends to her._ "I apologize if I offended you. I am not insulting you."

Penny glared at him. "You come in here and tell me that? How am I not going to be offended or insulted? I'm workin' on 3 hours sleep, you want to be snide and condescending; do it another time."

_Dear Lord, I have so much work to do with her, it is a shame that as bright as she is, no one took the time to educate her properly._ He let out a little sigh, "Penny, ignorance is simply the lack of knowledge." He shifted in his chair. "I believe you possess above average intelligence, and a generous supply of common sense, perhaps excepting relations with males."

Penny softened the look in her eyes, Did Sheldon Cooper just compliment her? _What does he mean 'relations with males'?_ _Stop it! Focus, Penny, this is Sheldon, listen, translate into regular English, then react, you know this drill._ She looked him square in the eyes. "Go on."

He continued, "You have started what is becoming a thriving business; I wish to reduce your ignorance and assist you in gaining information that will enable you and your business to thrive." He paused, "it would be an equitable arrangement, as I require your assistance as well.

Sheldon looked at her expectantly. She returned his look, _I'll be dammed ifI don't think he is sincere. What's going on in this wackadoodle's mind? But I don't want to make it too easy, where's the fun in that?_ "So you're offering to teach me about business, what do you know about business? What am I supposed to teach you?"

"I'm a physicist Penny, I know about the universe and everything _important _it contains." _Take that!_ "You need to properly organize your manufacturing process so that you can efficiently manufacture your Penny Blossoms and still have room to live, plus when you expand you will need the background to handle your growing endeavor."

_Damn it! I would have had him with _Fargo _this time! Oh well, he'll slip up again soon_.

"I would like you to teach me how to get along with other people in social settings; in order to secure additional funding for my work. He paused and looked at her. "Dr. Gablehouser is unwilling to assist this endeavor, evidently he considers me 'eccentric'." Penny stifled a giggle, _Sheldon actually used "finger quotes" and he looks so adorable doing it_. "Also I am not, in his rather limited view, a 'team player'; I don't quite understand that, since when are group sports parts of physics?"

Penny looked back at him, "Sheldon…"

"I mean really, how can I be blamed if the other faculty members are envious of my intelligence and talent?"

"Sheldon!"

"It is not my fault that these second rate cretins are…"

"SHELDON!" Sheldon paused and stared at Penny.

Penny glared as Sheldon, "The first thing you need to learn is that you have to let other people talk."

"But what if they aren't saying anything interesting? You should hear some people prattle on about themselves. They go about discussing their mundane lives as if other people ca…."

"Sheldon." He stopped and looked at her. _Good, at least he figured out that lesson. _"Sometimes, you have to be polite and at least pretend to listen to other people. Life isn't all about you. You're the smartest guy I have ever met and I love you, but you come off to other people as really self centered. Nobody likes that, and they won't take the time to learn what a wonderful and interesting guy you can be." She paused and looked him dead in the eyes. "If your work is so important, stop and begin to listen to other people."

Sheldon looked at her. _She loves me? Of course she must mean only as a friend, but she thinks I am wonderful and interesting and… Stop it! You're getting sidetracked, focus on the task at hand!_ He sighed, "I suppose you are correct. I will do my best to pay attention."

Penny smiled and Sheldon smiled back. "Give me a couple of hours to finish cleaning up, then we can sit down and figure out how to work this. I suppose you have a contract?"

"Of course."

"Let me have it. If it isn't too screwy we can sign it this afternoon."

"That would be acceptable." Sheldon looked at her for a minute, Penny thought he might say something else, but he simply turned and left.

TBC...


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: I apologize for how long this took to post, the real world has kept me very busy and was aggravated by writer's block. Thanks to the Mods at the Paradox (Sheldon/Penny) Forum on Live Journal. Their prompts helped get me back to this story and push out this chapter._

Penny looked at the contract, she had to hand it to him, he sure knew how to write a contract. Simple, clear and concise, well, except for one missing line; and she'd bet his Leonard Nimoy napkin it was on purpose. "You need to make one change." She looked Sheldon dead in the eye. "Put in there that you aren't allowed to be snide and condescending."

He paused and looked at her. _She noticed that, well it was worth a try_. "I had rather hoped you would have not noticed that omission. It will make my task more difficult, but I shall rise to the challenge. Did you note the clause on contacting my mother?"

"Yes, I can live with that, she can settle our disputes, but we both have to be there for any call about an argument."

"That is acceptable, while I make changes, here is the first book I'd like you to read." She looked at the cover, it said _The Goal_, by Eliyahu M. Goldratt.

"What's this?"

Sheldon looked at her while he typed, "It is a primer on the manufacturing process written as a novel. The author uses the characters to illustrate the 'Theory of Constraints'; the time and space restrictions upon the manufacturing process." Sheldon gestured toward Penny's apartment and the ingredients for Penny Blossoms. "Considering the state of your apartment, it struck me as the logical place to start."

Penny looked at him, _ok, 187 IQ or not where does he get this stuff?_ "Ok, I'll read it, that thing ready for us to sign?"

"Yes, don't forget to initial where it is highlighted."

Penny was surprised by the book, while it wasn't a great novel, it helped her begin to understand what she was trying to do. She began to get her assembly process in order and was surprised by the how quickly she could get the blossoms made.

As the weeks passed, they settled into a comfortable rhythm. Sheldon fed her a steady diet of reading assignments. He insisted that she broaden her reading. Some books, a lot of internet business articles, but he also threw in blogs, news, business, and opinion websites and even the odd court case. He quietly shared his Cal Tech account so she could access paid sites. She was really surprised at the extent of his interests. She thought of him as a physics nerd, but he was well rounded in current events, science, science fiction and the classics. His only true blind spots were popular culture and literature, she wondered if Sheldon Cooper had read any novels aside from science fiction or Children's books that had been published after the First World War.

He would question, argue and debate with her about what she read. He seemed to enjoy playing the Devil's Advocate. He would figure out her opinion and set himself against her, forcing her to take a position and defend it. It was refreshing for her, she found herself rethinking her opinions, not so much changing them but rather, discovering the ability to describe the reasons behind her gut reactions and argue the point. Sheldon had mastery of facts and figures, derived from his intelligence and phenomenal memory. Penny understood the relationship between emotion and actions, and she had an inherent appreciation for common sense. She found herself looking forward to discussing and arguing with him. In its own way, it made her feel more alive.

"Why are we watching this movie? I told you, I've read Shakespeare! You are not introducing new material to me."

"Sheldon." Penny looked at him in exasperation, "Reading Shakespeare is like tasting a color. The guy wrote PLAYS, you need to SEE them. That's the only way to appreciate them properly." She looked at him square in the eye, arms folded with her "you'll do as I say and like it" face on.

Sheldon sullenly sat down. He pouted through the first half of the movie, but as the film went on he looked over at her, and grudgingly began to admit to himself she was right. Watching the actors bring the words to life turned Shakespeare into a living presence, and was more enjoyable than reading the plays.

At the end of the movie, he simply turned to her, "I was in error, thank you."

Penny tried as hard as she could to keep the smile off of her face.

*****

Penny slowly began to take Sheldon out into the larger world. She took him when she went shopping; she forced him to engage in small talk (no science or science fiction references allowed) while waiting in line at the movies or at restaurants. It was at the movie theater she found another obstacle.

"Sheldon, sit down!"

"Here? But the acoustics are inferior!"

"Sheldon, so help me…" Penny stopped and took in a deep breath. In a quiet but determined voice she looked dead in his eyes. "You need to stop. I got news for you, even with a 187 IQ, you WILL learn some manners. Look around, do you see all these people? Who do you think you are to go around and bother them by making noises? They just want to sit down and enjoy a movie! You are being rude! Here are two seats, they are perfectly fine, they don't have to be perfect! There are other people here and we are going to sit down and just enjoy the movie!"

Sheldon looked at her and silently sat down in his seat and faced the screen. Penny grabbed the bridge of her nose and rubbed it. _Dear Lord, how can one person be so damned confusing._

After a short time, she heard a noise next to her, she looked up and saw Sheldon quietly clearing his throat. "Penny?"

"Yes Sheldon?"

"I would like to offer my apologies to you. You were correct, evidently I am being rather selfish."

They both settled into a rhythm. Their normal routine with Leonard, Raj, and Howard was increasingly buttressed by separate events. Penny didn't even really notice that she had gradually stopped dating. It was comfortable, and all was right in the world until Raj stopped her in the hallway and spoke to her.

She liked him, she always had, even though it took a couple of shots to get him ot speak to he, ever since their disastrous "date" he had been nothing but kind. Silent, but kind. That Raj was evidently sober when he spoke to her was mind boggling. But it was what he said that really floored her.

"Penny, do you realize you are now in a relationship with Sheldon?"


End file.
